Page 64 of Mine

“Kiss me.”

He lifted, and his soft, wet lips slid over mine. He tasted like toothpaste and a hint of cognac and like himself, like Landry.

I trembled under him, and he smiled against my mouth. I whimpered just a little when he pulled back.

“Scott’s date, she wanted you to fuck her,” he said as he kissed me again.

I groaned because it didn’t matter, she didn’t matter, but he was stuck on her for whatever reason.

His hand slid across my abdomen and made my stomach flutter.

“You know—” I kissed him and nibbled gently on his succulent lips, then sucked on his tongue, the kissing becoming hard and aching the way I liked it. I loved that he never said it was too much or complained that I was rough. “—I only fuck you, you know that.”

“I know that,” he said, shoving me down under him. “Hey, what are the odds if I keep kissing you you’ll end up tearing my clothes off?”

“It’s a safe bet.”

His evil chuckle made me smile.

Chapter 7

I WAS surprised the next morning when we came up for brunch, around ten, that the family was there with two men I didn’t know. The way Landry fisted his hand in the back of my hoodie made me instantly wary, and the only thing I could think was that the two men were the problem.

“Good morning,” Cece greeted us.

“Good morning,” I said back, taking a seat at the table one away from Jocelyn, having Landry take the seat between us. I was uncomfortable, and when I was, normally I put Landry beside a wall and me on the other side of him. The closest I could come to safety here was his sister. I put my arm around the back of his chair as the older of the two men took a seat on the other side of Jocelyn with the other man next to him.

“Landry, you remember Dr. Armstrong.”

He nodded.

“And this is his new partner, Dr. Kellum.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, leaning forward, looking at Cece.

“Well,” she began, clearing her throat, “I was surprised to hear that Landry had never been medicated or seen a psychiatrist or gone into a treatment center for his bipolar condition once he left home. Since Dr. Armstrong is the one who diagnosed him all those years ago, I just wanted him to see Landry now and tell us what he thought.”

“For what purpose?” I asked her. Apparently “friends for brunch,” as we had been told to expect the day before, meant Landry’s old shrink. “Why are they here?”

She looked confused, like that had actually never occurred to her.

“Trevan.”

I looked at Mr. Carter.

“We just wanted Landry to speak to Dr. Armstrong, if he would.”

I looked around the table and realized that Hugh was missing, as well as William, but everyone else was there from the morning before, including both Landry’s brothers. I turned my head, my eyes flicking to Landry’s face.

“You have to believe me and not them, okay?” he asked me.

“Of course,” I assured him.

Landry turned his head and Jocelyn leaned back at the same time, giving my boyfriend a clear view of the man. “Yes?”

The doctor was smiling hesitantly. He was an older man, maybe late fifties, early sixties, handsome, tall. He reminded me of a high school principal; he had that look.

“So tell me about yourself, Landry.”